Woods hit the first five fairways of the day and after his two birdies parred the next three holes. He ran into trouble on the par 3 15th when he landed in the bunker.

However, he hit a tremendous shot out only to miss a five-foot par putt putting him back to +1 for the tournament. But he grabbed the stroke back with his second birdie on a par 5 on Saturday. Using driver he put himself into good position on No. 16 and was able to overcome a mediocre second shot.

Perhaps most crucially for his round he hit a 15-footer for par on No. 17. That is the hole he triple-bogeyed on Friday.

He finished the first nine with a par on the par 5, 18th. He got a bad break when his approach shot threatened the flag for an eagle only to roll down the back of the green.

Woods, a three-time British Open champion, started the day 14 shots back of leader Rory McIlroy and made the turn 12 shots back.

"Luckily I have two rounds to go and hopefully I can do something like Paul did in '99," Woods said after Friday's round of Paul Lawrie, who stormed back to win the Open in 1999. "He made up 10 shots on one day and hopefully I can play well on the weekend and at least give myself a shot on the back nine on Sunday."

Jim McKay tries to find a ball hit into the gorse by Phil Mickelson on the 7th hole during his third round at The 143rd Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Ian Rutherford USA TODAY Sports

Jul 19, 2014; Wirral, Merseyside, GBR; Phil Mickelson looks for his ball in the gorse on the 7th hole during his third round at The 143rd Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Ian Rutherford USA TODAY Sports

Third round leader Rory McIlroy places his ball on the 2nd green during his third round, on day three of the 2014 British Open Golf Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Course in Hoylake.
Peter Muhly AFP/Getty Images

Sergio Garcia of Spain gestures after making a birdie putt on the fifth green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, northern England July 19, 2014. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN - Tags: SPORT GOLF) ORG XMIT: LON746
TOBY MELVILLE REUTERS

A scorer holds the board of the South African group of Louis Oosthuizen, George Coetzee and Charl Schwartzel during the third round of The 143rd Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Andrew Redington Getty Images

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland shelters under an umbrella on the fourth green during the third round of the British Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.
Cathal McNaughton Reuters

Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy watches his shot from the 1st tee during his third round, on day three of the 2014 British Open Golf Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Course.
Peter Muhly AFP/Getty Images